


don't forget the sugar(not salt!)

by VegetaLGBT



Series: half baked [3]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:21:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27924469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VegetaLGBT/pseuds/VegetaLGBT
Summary: People were not simple creatures; they were incredibly complex and often a source of great confusion for Raihan. He tries not to bother with them and risk over stressing himself. Leon makes this a bit hard, however.orRaihan had a crush and thought Leon did too. Now he isn't so sure.
Relationships: Dande | Leon/Kibana | Raihan
Series: half baked [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1913182
Comments: 22
Kudos: 80





	don't forget the sugar(not salt!)

Baking is simple - always has been for him. 

There are recipes. You learn and follow along to recipes to get the basics. It’s with testing you learn what’s good, and eventually have the skill to be able to intuit what is amazing. 

Baking is simple. People, on the other hand, were decidedly _not_ as simple, Raihan mused as he watched Leon leave their little bakery with his usual brilliant smile. 

“Ya know,” Aria starts in a sing-song voice as soon as the door closes behind Leon, “I think someone might have a bit of crush on a special _someone_ who works here~” She breaks off into giggles as her hand comes up to cover her mouth as if she’s just said something particularly scandalous. “In fact, I’m sure of it!”

At some point, Raihan was sure of it too. 

What else was he supposed to think when he found out the man who was in their bakery, any time he could be, chatting up with Raihan as much as possible, had no particular inclination towards sweets? 

There really was only one logical explanation for it. An explanation that initially brought heat to his cheeks; One that filled him with a warm anticipation following the days after his discovery. He had been extra jumpy at any and all incoming notifications from his phone, all waiting for a message from a certain muscle-bound photographer.

A message of course, that inevitably never came. 

It wasn’t like he expected one immediately, but he expected to get something at _some_ point. Maybe Leon was just shy, he thought; that would make sense.

So he waited.

Waited and waited for a message that never came.

And then, Leon stopped by the shop again….And again. Like nothing happened.

He continued to grin that doofy grin, and chat aimlessly with Raihan any time he came in as if nothing happened. 

To be fair, nothing _did_ happen. Raihan gave Leon his number, Leon never responded, but kept coming around anyway. 

At first, Raihan could only chalk it up to just straight up rejection. Raihan had not only misunderstood but clearly overstepped. That was fine — really it was. 

But then Leon came back to the store, smile sunny as ever and Raihan couldn’t help but think it was weird. Because even if Leon didn’t like him, or straight up was not into guys, and still wanted to be friends, why not just _text him_. It wasn’t like phone access was strictly restricted to beaus. Unless Leon was one of _those_ kinds of guys. He didn’t seem like he was. Then again, look where assuming things had gotten Raihan so far.

He hated thinking about it; It was no good to be stressed at work, and this particular subject has been lingering around in his mind for far longer than he’d like. 

So he doesn’t voice any of this to Aria. Instead he subtly nods towards a group of teens coming inside, eyes glued to their phones, and chattering rising above the volume of the mellow song filtering through the bakery’s speakers. “Get back to work Aria,” he tells her lightly before he heads to the back to get started on another custom order. 

It should’ve been a lot; a custom order plus the fact there was a pretty good amount in the display out front that needed replacing was quite a bit. But once Raihan got into the groove of it, everything was fine. It was easy.

People were not simple. Baking was.

  
  
  


***************************

  
  
  


An early morning rush finds Raihan leaving during the bit of respite they are granted from the storm of people, to get more supplies for the hot drink menu when they run down a bit too low for his liking. 

The time outside in the light rain gives him time to clear his head as much as he can. He doesn’t bring Gooey with him to work because many people probably won’t find a dog near a bakery too appealing. The walk and comfortable temperature drop brought by the rain are not exactly a substitute, but pretty darn close to it. 

His mood only lightens a bit more when he comes back and he sees Leon’s form at the front, talking Camilla through another order it seemed. However confused by Leon’s behavior he has been, a visit from the man never fails to brighten his day. “Leon, hey!” He calls out brightly.

It seems that Leon was far from done with surprising him with strange behavior. Leon turns to look at him, greatly resembling a deer caught in headlights, before he hurriedly confirms something with Camilla and rushes out their store with an excuse Raihan only half catches.

Huh. 

He ducks behind the counter with a questioning glance in Camilla’s direction. “What was that all about?” 

Camilla bites her lip and trades a glance with Aria, but ultimately neither don’t get a chance to answer; as if Leon’s leaving was the trigger, another gaggle of customers starts to flood the store causing Raihan to quickly forget about the incident until much, much later. When the shop is closed for the day and he is back in the comfort of his home. 

  
  
  


***************************

  
  
  


When he did get the downtime to think on it while making dinner, Raihan simply couldn’t wrap his mind around the situation regardless. 

Raihan couldn’t find anything extremely unusual about the order. He hadn’t been able to question Camilla or Aria about the exact exchange Camilla had with Leon and he ended up letting them off early anyway because they had a test to rest up for — something they had both been extremely grateful for.

So _why_? 

Why had Leon rushed out like that? Did Raihan do something? 

He must have. He tried to backtrack and find any particular incident that stuck out. Nothing did, but there had to be _something._

Had giving Leon his number come off too strong? Did _Raihan_ himself come off too strong?

Had he only served in making himself a comfortable presence for the other man? 

Was this Leon’s own subtle way of telling him to back off? By starting to make sure he only got orders through his workers and not through talking directly?

Or— 

There are warm breaths on his leg, and a furred foot pawing at him. 

He looks to the side to find Gooey holding a bottle in her mouth; her face now very close to his.

Wasn’t he cooking? When did he end up on the floor…

Gooey makes a low noise and he suddenly remembers to take the bottle from her. When he holds out his hand she drops the bottle from her mouth obligingly. She politely waits for him to knock back a few pills dry before huddling him in her warmth. 

He pets her back as he lets his racing thoughts slow down before he can work himself into an attack. “Thank you sweetheart.”

He gets warm drool on his shoulder and enthusiastic tail waving in response. 

Raihan lets her comfort him and tries not to let his mind wander to the whole _Leon_ thing for the night. It was fine. It was probably nothing. People were not so simple; this fact stressed him out sometimes, but he was sure he might be overreacting. 

He hopes so anyway.

  
  
  


***************************

  
  
  


They meet again on a day Raihan is expecting him, but much earlier than he’s expecting him. 

He blinks at seeing Leon look around at the building from across the street as if it’s some uncharted land. Raihan pauses in opening up for the day — he comes an hour early anyway, it’s not that big of a deal — to see what’s up. Hopefully the man doesn’t decide to run away from him again.

“Leon!” He calls out as he jogs lightly over to him. Leon turns at the call of his name, but unlike last time he seems to not feel the need to immediately make himself scarce. “You look a bit lost there mate.” Raihan decides not to ask if Leon’s forgotten that his shop was just across the street. He’s been there so many times, there’s no way he could possibly be _lost_ of all things. “I thought you weren’t coming by ‘till just a bit later?”

“Ah. I wasn’t to be quite honest. I came early because I had another stop to make first, but it seems I’ve gotten a bit turned around.” He looks sheepishly off to the side at the end of his explanation. 

“Well I’ve been working in this area for a while. I could probably send ya off in the right direction if you know the name of the place you were looking for?”

“...” Leon coughs the name out in a rush into his hand and Raihan has to tilt his head at him. 

“...Didn’t quite catch that. I’m sorry, do you mind…?” 

“Oh, um. I was heading to Field Forages.” For some unfathomable reason Leon flushes a bit when he re-iterates the shop name. 

Raihan blinks at the name. 

“Field Forages is…It’s in the opposite direction. You wanna head more towards the west side of town.” It was a wonder Leon was all the way over here when the aforementioned little flower shop was certainly _not_ a few minutes walk by any means. “If you just keep going straight down from here you shouldn’t miss it actually,” Raihan explains while pointing him off in the right direction.

“Straight down, straight down, straight down,” Leon mumbles to himself a few times, as if it’s something especially hard to remember. Raihan frowns and is about to offer to show him the way completely, but then Leon gives him one of his usual brilliant smiles. “Thank you, Raihan! I-I’ll see you soon, yeah?” 

Once again, Leon is going away from him, but on a much better note than last time. He’d like to think so anyway. 

  
  
  


***************************

  
  
  


He doesn’t think much of the morning incident. Not until later; not until he has Leon’s order in a clear little container waiting for the man to come. 

It’s a strange order, just a single little chocolate cupcake with a thin layer of dark blue frosting and a small orange, almost hydrangea looking, sculpt of garnish — his favorite color combination. Simple, elegant, and strange in that it is much less plentiful than any of Leon’s other orders. 

He doesn’t think much of it, not until Leon comes in later. When the light from the afternoon sun frames him in a particular soft light and highlights the extremely modest bouquet of flowers resting in his arm. 

Raihan almost forgets how to breathe for a second. 

Because with an elegant dessert and an arrangement of delicate flowers something becomes increasingly obvious to Raihan. Obviously Leon was seeing somebody already, or planning to. 

Either way Raihan had clearly come on to somebody who’s heart was already interested in somebody else. 

And he knows he can’t be blamed, that there’s no way he could’ve possibly known, but Raihan can’t help but try to hold back the flush of shame that threatens to overtake him regardless. 

He shouldn’t care, _he shouldn’t_. But Leon is delightful, and Raihan has found a welcoming comfort in his presence over time. Maybe, just maybe, he’s started to worm his way into Raihan’s heart with something that maybe might resemble a crush.

It’s neither the time, nor place to apologize. However, he also cannot find it in himself to dig up the usual exuberance he has when interacting with Leon. There’s a similar lethargic energy with Leon apparently. As such, the checkout is an unusually quiet affair for them aside from the slight noises from Sebastian’s diligent wipe down of their serving counter from a few feet away. 

When he finishes ringing Leon up, he gently hands the confectionary over to Leon. Words come to him unbidden, “I hope they like it.” It’s an understated, but plesant gift. Whoever is on the receiving end of it is lucky for sure. 

Leon pauses and takes a deep breath. He maneuvers the flower so they rest on top of his order and, ever so gently, he pushes it back to Raihan; gold eyes meet Raihan’s own, bright and shining. The expression on Leon’s face gives nothing away. “Do you?” In the background, Sebastian’s wiping becomes much more vigorous. 

Oh.

_Oh._

This time Raihan _does_ forget how to breathe. 

Unwittingly, he reaches forwards and takes the offered items. His mouth falls open a bit as he looks between them and Leon; he can feel how ruddy his face is becoming as he observes the man and his gift. 

All he can manage to say in return is a hushed, “I do,” soft, but still enunciated clearly enough so that Leon could hear it over Sebastian’s _much_ more rigorous wiping — that kid was going to rub a crack clean in the counter at this rate. 

Leon nods at him, an air of satisfaction settling in around him. Raihan waits with bated breath as Leon seems to struggle with his next words. He opens his mouth, and then—

Faster than Raihan can follow, he’s once again watching Leon leave.

He finds himself looking down at the flowers in his hands — peonies, he’s fairly sure. His hands come up to gingerly play with the petals. He doesn’t want to but—

Raihan allows something warm to bloom in his chest as the light catches on the light pink petals.

  
  
  


***************************

  
  
  


The next time Leon comes, he’s on a warpath; long and purposeful strides accompanied with a potent air of resolve. Enraptured by the sight, Raihan is frozen in his tracks, and can only watch as Leon marches straight up to him, clenches his fist tightly by his sides, opens his mouth wide and—

“W-would you. Um-that is! With me to-agh!” Leon clenches his eyes shut as words are choked off and become much more garbled in his frustration. Frustration with what exactly, Raihan is not entirely sure of.

Raihan blinks at him slowly. “Come again?”

Suddenly Leon’s eyes snap open and bore straight into his with a single minded determination. “DATE!”

Raihan involuntarily takes half a step back, jolted by the sheer volume of the man before him. His mouth moves before his brain even truly registers what Leon just said. “D-Date?”

“A-A DATE!” Leon confirms; very, _very_ loudly. “AN OCCASION WHERE TWO PEOPLE WHO ARE OR MAY BECOME ROMANTICALLY INVOLVED—” 

Leon is _still_ shouting for some ungodly reason; it makes the patrons around the bakery stop and look up. He can see hushed conversations with none too subtle glances and finger pointing in their direction, muffled giggles and — oh god was someone pulling out their phone?

Before he can think much on it, Raihan grabs Leon’s — stupidly thick — arm, drags him to the back, ignoring Camilla’s affronted gasp, and shuts the door behind them. 

He leads Leon to the middle of his workspace and leans back against one of the immaculately clean counters and puts his head in his hands. “Just. Do you mind starting over,” he requests weakly. Because his brain has indeed caught up to what Leon was yelling about before, but he can’t quite believe it. “And _without_ yelling please.” 

Raihan hears a deep inhale from Leon’s general direction. “I just. I thought you were cute, really cute when I first came. I still do, but...You’re also sweet, and endearing, and I’ve enjoyed the small moment we spend with each other here and I just thought. I thought it would be nice if I could see you a little more than just behind the counter. You also—”

Raihan covers Leon’s mouth quickly, hoping the darkness of his skin hides how flushed he knows his face is. When was the last time anybody has ever had such kind thoughts about him? 

But if this was actually happening, and Leon really felt like that, then—

“Why didn’t you just text me? That probably would’ve been a much easier starting point.”

Raihan has the sense to remember to remove his appendage from Leon’s mouth so he can actually answer, but Leon only tilts his head at him. “...Text you?”

“I gave you my number...back at the wedding reception?”

Leon’s brows furrow a bit. He opens his mouth, closes it again, and just as a light — of understanding perhaps? — clears up behind his eyes, he opens his mouth again. It’s a little fascinating to watch really. 

The shorter man’s hand comes up to scratch at his cheek as he glances off to the side somewhere. “I-uh misplaced it?” 

Leon sounds sincere enough that it sounds like the truth, but then why did it sound like a question? Why didn’t Leon just ask him for his number again any of the other times he came by. 

Maybe Leon was just too shy to admit he lost it?

Maybe Raihan came off too strong, not approachable enough for Leon to be willing to ask again?

Or maybe this wasn’t actually happening. At least not like he thought it was. Leon might be doing this to just appease Raihan and then never mention it again. 

Or maybe—

A soft touch on his arm makes him look down suddenly; Leon’s eyes bore back into his, wide and simmering with the inviting and comfortable heat of tiny suns. 

“You’re free to refuse of course, but I meant what I said. Every word of it.” 

Raihan swallows. “I think a date sounds lovely.”

  
  
  


***************************

  
  


He’s surprised when Leon agrees to have their first date at Raihan’s house. Raihan knows it’s a bit strange, but he can’t be too sure he’s entirely comfortable on being taken out anywhere; not when he’s still just a bit on the fence on whether or not the interest on Leon’s part isn’t too good to be true. 

Leon is sweet, funny, and all around charming. Raihan has a hard time believing he doesn’t have better things to do than entertaining a pity date with him. 

_But then again,_ his traitorous mind whispers, _would a guy really bring flowers for a pity date._

He finds himself glancing at the carnations Leon brought, now sitting in a nice vase with water out of the corner of his eye. 

Most people would not bring flowers for a pity date. Most people, even for a free dinner — one that Raihan had insisted on making an apology for any stress he might’ve given Leon on his part. Something that had befuddled Leon — would not agree to have a first date at someone’s house without the expectation of getting laid. Most people would probably have minded a bit that Raihan wanted Gooey so close to him on their date. 

Yet if Leon did have any problems, Raihan was having a hard time finding any sign of it. 

Still, he can’t help but apologize again as Leon obligingly fills up his glass with the wine he brought. “I’m really sorry for any trouble I gave you, or if I seemed a bit snappish or stand-offish. I just—I have some really bad bad days sometimes.” Bad weeks, _months,_ really. 

“It’s fine, really. You haven’t in the least,” Leon gives him a small smile that makes Raihan really want to believe him. “Maybe today has been a bit better?” Leon knocks their legs together under the table. Raihan blinks at him, but only presses his against Leon’s in turns.

“Maybe,” Raihan agrees, and knows he’s said something right when Leon gifts him with an almost bashful look. 

  
  
  


***************************

  
  
  


There are many things in life that are simple. Likewise, there are just as many things that were not. 

It is their fifth date; a nice picnic they both brought items for to have in a tiny public park accompanied by Gooey and the warm rays of the afternoon sun. (Although apparently the food on Leon’s part had been more so from his mum, as Leon is apparently generally not allowed _near_ a kitchen.)

Baking was something simple for Raihan while people were not; subsequently dating — being something that involved people — was also not quite so simple. But as he watches Leon accidentally hit his fork full of pie into his cheek because he’s too busy staring at Raihan, he thinks that maybe that is fine. He doesn’t mind spending a bit of time trying to figure them out. 

Raihan leans in and kisses the crumbs off the corner of Leon’s lips. Leon rewards him by lacing their fingers together and pulling him in close until Raihan is practically in Leon’s lap. 

(He hopes he gets all the time in the world to figure these things out.)

**Author's Note:**

> And as of right now that's a wrap! I'm not completely satisfied with it, but I felt so bad for making anybody who liked this little series wait so long for the next part! (School is hard )X< ). I still do hope this part is satisfactory (': 
> 
> Also in case it's not clear cuz i didn't end up elaborating on it as much as I thought I would, but Gooey is an emotional support dog! She reminds Raihan to take his meds and can calm him down from attacks(I give him bad anxiety because I am incapable of not projecting)
> 
> Anyway, thank you for reading if you made it down here, until next time! ｡ﾟ(TヮT)ﾟ｡


End file.
